Fitting In Fitness #Dishthefit Link-Up

Good morning!! 

Guess what today is?!

It's Tuesday and it's time to #dishthefit with Jessica @ TheFitSwitch and Nicole @ Thefitpepper!

Today's topic: How do you fit in fitness? 

When you're a stay at home mom it can be quite difficult to get in a good workout. Some may think, "no way, sahm's have so much time on their hands." When in all reality we don't. Not for ourselves anyway.

Now that both of our kids are in school, I have about 7 hours to get in my workout. Oh how hard my life is!

So for all you newbies out there, struggling to fit in fitness while staying home with the kidlets, I put together a list of how SAHM's can fit in a workout in between diapers and feedings.

Here we go!

*Nap time! Using the time your little one goes down for a nap is THE BEST time to get 'er done! I used to make sure I had enough time to shower before Kate woke up so I didn't have to let her play in the bathroom while I showered. Not my shining, parenting moment but it worked at the time.

*If you have older kids that don't take naps on a regular schedule, set aside a special activity they get to do when mommy works out. Special crayons, markers, play dough, stickers..the list goes on. Whatever you have to label as "special" and will keep them occupied for 30-45 minutes will be gold! Eventually you may have to switch things up but it should work for the first week at least.

*Use electronics. Gasp! I said electronics! Kate used to love playing on ABC Mouse while I got my workout in. She was happy and she was learning. We've always had a time limit on games in our house. I hate when I see kids looking like zombies, glued to tablets and gameboys. Oh wait, kids don't play with gameboys anymore do they?
Anyway, since we set limits, it makes their game time precious to them. It didn't always work out how I planned, but most of the time, Kate played nicely and I got in my time with Jillian.

*Use what you have! You don't need anything fancy to get a good workout in! Especially now-a-days! Hello Google!  The only thing you'll probably need is an open space. These days, it's all about using your body as resistance. I.E. pushups, squats, lunges, yoga...

*If all else fails, recruit daddy when he gets home from work. I always made sure the fam was well fed and happy, then headed to the garage to get my sweat on. Every now and then the kids would end up in the garage, staring at me... awkward! I'd ask, where's dad? They'd say, I don't know. We wanna watch you. Haha! Little did I know that would be a good thing for them to see me living an active life!

*Include the kids! Pile them into the stroller and go out for a walk. Let one ride a bike or scooter. If you don't live someplace where it's safe to walk, load up the car, drive to a park or just into town and get your walk on there. I started running a couple years around a park, while my husband watched the kids at the park. It was a half mile loop so I'd go around a few times while they played.

 I think I had more successful workouts when I included them in being active. Soon my husband started running so we all went to the high school track. That was the best idea ever! We could run while they played on the field or in the sand box...I mean the long jump. :-)

*Look into joining the gym. If day care is included and you're ok with leaving your kids there for an hour or so, go for it! It sort of takes the brain work out of fitting in fitness and there's so much to choose from! AND your kids aren't far away! You can check on them whenever you want and you're available if the staff needs you. If your kids are a bit older, like mine, most gyms will let you take them swimming with you as long as there isn't a class going on. My kids loved doing laps with me!

Please don't get us kicked out!

What are some other ways you can fit some fitness into your life?? 

Stick around and dish some fit with the fitfam! After you're finished here, head on over to Jessica or Nicole's blog and see what everyone else is dishing up today! 

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Make it a great one!